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News

Let the Good Times Roll

TUESDAY, 05 SEPTEMBER 2017

Let the good times roll, or so sang Louis Jordan, B.B. King, Ray Charles and Muddy Waters. There’s one regional Victorian venue where this lyric has an extraordinary meaning.

The Blues Train is Australia’s longest running, and rolling, dedicated Blues music venue. It is an unparalleled live music experience inside an actual, fully operational heritage locomotive on Queenscliff’s scenic railway.

Chugging into its 24th annual season and showing no signs of slowing down, the Blues Train has featured hundreds of artists who have performed over 9,000 sets, accommodated more than 110,000 passengers and made 550 trips over 21,000 kilometres. That’s further than a return ticket to Mississippi and indeed, we’ve had artists come from just as far.

From August to May every year, we’re honoured to welcome aboard a regular line-up of established Blues musicians from right around Australia. We’ve also had guests from the U.S.A, Canada, Germany, Holland and New Zealand.

Attracting fans of all ages, the famous Blues Train is now considered something of a mecca in motion. That’s why we’re one of the first stops for up and coming Blues artists who often go on to find major success nationally and overseas. Of course, when they make the return pilgrimage, we’re more than happy to have them back on the tracks.

As the saying goes, the Blues had a baby and they called it rock and roll, so keen fans are treated to tunes reaching right across the Blues spectrum with broad appeal. Our four rocking heritage train cars have been customised to accommodate a solo artist, a duo and bands of various sizes. In an adults-only version of musical chairs, patrons change carriages at each station so they can enjoy all four acts over the course of the night. A ticket to ride provides a seat along with a dinner of delicious seasonal fare. For those keen to grease the wheels, our mobile bar rolls on and off the train at every stop.

The Blues Train experience was first conceived and realised in 1994 by Hugo T. Armstrong, former Artistic Director of the Queenscliff Music Festival and a PBS programmer for over two decades. Unlike most venue owners, Hugo himself is a charismatic fixture on the platform every night, chatting to patrons at each end of their adventure. “That’s the best night I’ve ever had!” is a phrase he’s heard countless times as he’s bid farewell to well-tuned travellers.

Obviously, a moving train that hosts music does have a novelty factor and therefore attracts people that may not consider themselves pure Blues fans. What such unsuspecting folk come to realise is that many of the songs they already know and love fall under the blues genre. It may seem like we’re on a mission, but we can’t help it if the experience boasts its fair share of conversions.

At the end of the line, the Blues Train is an incomparable journey worth the road trip and a genuine rite of passage for passengers and musicians alike.